All eyes have been on Becky Hammon as she has ascended the San Antonio Spurs’ coaching staff and even gotten buzz (and an interview!) as a head coach candidate in the NBA. But perhaps what’s most important about Hammon’s prominence, and the pioneering she and Nancy Lieberman did in the NBA, is it has created a paradigm in which there can be a dozen Becky Hammons.
Becky Hammon isn’t alone
We have that and more in Thursday’s NBA newsletter.
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
That’s starting to happen.
The Sixers have hired former WNBA No. 1 pick Lindsay Harding as a scout, reports ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne. Harding becomes, by Shelburne’s telling, the NBA’s second full-time scout hired out of the WNBA after Jenny Boucek.
Boucek, meanwhile, is an assistant coach with the Mavericks now. Natalie Nakase became an NBA assistant coach this summer after spending several years with the Clippers, most recently as a G League assistant coach. And the pipeline continues: the Raptors 905 of the G League added Canadian women’s player Tamara Tatham to its staff.
Hammon remains the most high-profile female basketball staffer in the NBA, but she’s not alone any more. This is what’s needed to truly bring some semblance of equality of opportunity into the league: a regular stream of women coming into the NBA as scouts, as coaches, as front office executives. While we wait for Hammon to get a chance to run a team, what we need most to expanded opportunities for all women in the men’s game.
Rookie mistake
The results of the annual rookie poll came out, and the biggest story is the frankly bizarre voting in the question about which rookie will have the best career. Luka Doncic, the No. 3 pick and already a Euroleaugue MVP, received zero votes.
Wendell Carter actually finished No. 1 on the question, answered by 36 rookies. Kevin Knox (?) and Jerome Robinson (?!) tied for No. 2. A serious of other lottery picks tied for third. Michael Porter and Trae Young received votes (probably a vote each, if I’m extrapolating the percentages properly). Doncic got none.
On one hand, this is wild. Doncic has already had a better basketball career than any other 2018 rookie, and he’s on the younger end of the scale! On the other hand, none of these voting rookies has played against Luka at all. Unlike them, he didn’t play in college last year. Unlike most of them, he didn’t play in Summer League. Carter was awesome at Summer League; that absolutely boosted his vote total here.
The upshot is that rookies are hilariously bad at answering this question historically. They overwhelmingly picked Jahlil Okafor is 2015!
Links galore
Opening night of the WNBA playoffs on Tuesday was a doozy. Of course Lynx-Sparks went down to the final moments. Chelsea Gray is icy. And, holy heck Diana Taurasi is 12-0 all-time in winner-take-all WNBA playoff games! Unicorn blood in her veins.
The second round is Thursday, with Sparks at Mystics (6:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2) and Mercury at Sun (8:30, also on ESPN2). Winners go on to face the Storm and Dream in the best-of-five semifinals.
Tamryn Spruill on the rise and fall of the Lynx. Matt Ellentuck on the end of the dynasty.
A’ja Wilson swept the Rookie of the Month awards in the WNBA. Impressive.
Two more stories in Jackie MacMullan’s huge series on mental health in the NBA are out: one focused on mental health and the African-American community and one on the question of whether to medicate. This series is going to have a huge positive impact on the league and sports (and hopefully American society) for a long, long time.
Tim Bontemps on how Team USA fuels the birth of superteams.
Lindsay Gibbs on why the WNBA needs Liz Cambage, even if she doesn’t need it. Matt Ellentuck tells the story of Cambage and a 16-year-old fan bonding over their struggles.
Remember Isaiah Austin? He’s playing professionally in China ... and putting up big numbers.
How much will DeMarcus Cousins actually help the Warriors?
LeBron’s social activism is inspiring young players to do the same.
Your regularly scheduled reminder that Kawhi Leonard’s hands are incredibly large.
The LeBron 16s are out.
John Gonzalez on whether the Lakers will trade for a star this season.
SB Nation’s college football preview is ridiculously fun, even if your favorite team has no shot whatsoever of making the playoff or beating Bama.
And finally: via NBA Reddit, a reminder that Draymond Green got a taunting technical on his first-ever NBA basket. A sign of greatness to come.
Be excellent to each other.
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